Know Your Enemy: Tulsa Golden Hurricane

Oklahoma State Begins Their Journey With Tulsa

WHO: Tulsa Golden Hurricane

WHEN: Thursday, August 31st @ 6:30 PM CT

WHERE: Stillwater, Oklahoma

HOW TO WATCH: Fox Sports One

SCOUTING TULSA: The Golden Hurricane were able to get back to ten wins a year ago–the third time Tulsa has reached that mark since 2010. Phillip Montgomery’s crew were among one of the best offensive teams in the country, and were aided by a defense that was respectable for most of the 2016 season. However, Tulsa is among one of the nation’s worst when it comes to the returning production from last year.

Dane Evans is now resided in Philadelphia with the Eagles, but the former Tulsa quarterback is leaving behind 3,348 passing yards from a year ago with 32 touchdowns. Evans was a dynamic quarterback that had the ability to stretch the field by dumping short, horizontal passes to his slot receivers and long, vertical passes to receivers streaking down the field. Evans’ replacement looks to be in Chad President. President looked good in Tulsa’s Spring Game, but the questions of his arm strength and efficiency remain. However, a starting quarterback has yet to be named and it could even be Luke Skipper. Luckily, Tulsa returns a 1000-yard rusher in D’Angelo Brewer that will run behind an offensive line that is returning four starters, including three all-conference players. Offensively, the question for Tulsa is if they are ready to truly “plug-and-play” on offense just like Art Briles’ had going at Baylor.

One of the less talked about parts of this game will be Mason Rudolph going up against an experienced Tulsa secondary. The Golden Hurricane lost Jeremy Brady to graduation, but return the other five members of their secondary from a year ago that put up respectable numbers with just over 35 passes defended. However, Tulsa’s defense could be exposed in the run-game early with losing their middle linebacker and two defensive linemen from a group that struggled in 2016. The Golden Hurricane’s best hope is to stack the box to stop Justice Hill and force Mason Rudolph to use his deep receiving corps against their experienced secondary.

Phillip Montgomery is one of the hottest coaches in the market heading into 2017. He made Tulsa a respectable football school quickly after they fell into an abyss in 2013 and 2014. Unfortunately, Tulsa is heading to Stillwater with question marks and Oklahoma State has been foaming at the mouth for football season ever since Mason Rudolph and James Washington announced that they were returning to Stillwater for one more year.